


slip stitch your way into my heart

by flying_dream



Category: Produce 101 (TV), X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, This is a soft vibes only area, This is the opposite of a slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 02:03:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21384283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flying_dream/pseuds/flying_dream
Summary: When Minhee's forced to join the knitting club in school, he's not particularly looking forward to it. He'd much rather spend his time debating capitalism and the effects of social media on mental health. But then he meets Lee Eunsang and it turns out that cherry-haired, knitting needle-wielding boys with soft voices are exactly his type.He never really stood a chance.
Relationships: Kang Minhee/Lee Eunsang
Comments: 26
Kudos: 128





	slip stitch your way into my heart

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was inspired by three things:
> 
> 1\. finding out that minhee used to be in a [knitting club](https://twitter.com/ddkluvf/status/1173582100685099008)  
2\. [this](https://youtu.be/ztq1otCoHDM?t=5) moment where eunsang steadies minhee and i realised that wow i support the minisang agenda  
3\. me wanting to spread some more love for the maknae line!
> 
> also this was written in the middle of the night over two consecutive nights so don't expect it to be the best thing since sliced bread. also don't hide creator's style for this one or else the texts look ugly

**slip stitch your way into my heart**

Minhee likes to think he’s a good person. He volunteers at the local dog shelter every other weekend, always does his homework on time and to an exceptionally high standard, buttons his school shirt all the way up to his collar and tucks it neatly into his ironed trousers. He never litters – has even collected rubbish in his local park on three separate occasions – and he adores the little kids in his neighbourhood. He even helps little old ladies who can’t reach the top shelf in the supermarket. He’s _nice_, okay?

He does all this thanks to the goodness of his heart and the manners his mother has instilled in him and yet the universe seems to be mocking him when he returns to school after just _two short days _of being off sick and –

“The only extracurriculars left available are knitting or rock collecting, I’m afraid,” says Mrs Jung with a small grimace. “Everything else is already full.”

Knitting. Rock collecting. Knitting.

_Rock collecting._

To put it bluntly: what the actual fuck.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else available?” he asks, trying not to sound like he’s panicking. Or like the thought of both clubs makes him want to stick pins in his eyes and share it on TikTok. “Nowhere you can just squeeze _one_ extra person into?”

She shakes her head.

Minhee starts to wither. “Not even the Reptile Association?” he continues weakly. It’s not like he’s particularly passionate about lizards, but he’d much rather stroke a gecko than traipse around collecting bits of limestone every week.

“Unfortunately, the last spot in the Reptile Association has been taken,” she says, glancing at one of the many sheets in front of her. She squints behind her gold, thick-rimmed square spectacles. “By Koo Jungmo, it seems. So it’ll have to be either the Rockhounds or the knitting club for you this year.”

Great.

_Great._

So much for his junior extracurricular. Back when he discovered that the school made extracurriculars mandatory in junior year in order to spruce up their college applications, he carefully analysed and planned out just what he was going to join in order to seem as attractive as possible to future employers and recruiters. In the end, Minhee was dead-set on joining the Debating Society since it looks great on a personal statement. But then he just _had_ to go and get food poisoning and fall bedridden during sign-ups, hadn’t he?

And now here he is.

Stuck between a rock and a pair of knitting needles.

Seeming to take pity on him, Mrs Jung softens. “Look, you’re considering a future career in dentistry, aren’t you? Well, it just so happens that knitting looks really good in applications for medical-related fields, shows that you have some manual dexterity. So how about I put you down for the knitting club and keep you on a waiting list in the meantime? If anything opens up, I’ll let you know right away. Is that alright, hun?”

No, it’s not alright. He doesn’t _want_ to knit like his seventy year old halmeoni, he wants to debate people about the rampant exploitation that’s fundamentally embedded in capitalism. But seeing no other alternative, Minhee can only nod, however miserably he does it. He watches as his name is inked down beneath a small heading in 12 point Calibri bold type letters: **THE KNIT & NATTER.**

"You guys are traitors,” Minhee says when he walks into homeroom with Hyeongjun the next day. He points to where his friends lounge in the back of the classroom, swiftly ignoring the odd looks he receives from some of his classmates. “Snakes, the lot of you.”

Dongpyo rolls his eyes, rocking back on his chair as Minhee strides (read: stomps) over to his desk. “Are you still going on about that damn knitting club?”

“I told you to sign me up for the Debating Society,” he hisses.

“So I forgot.” He shrugs. “Big deal. It’s just a club.”

“A weekly club,” he says. “A club that meets weekly. I’d like to see _you_ knit weekly.”

“Well, fortunately, I’ll just be dancing to Gashina during Dance Club instead, so I don’t have to. And in any case, I don’t see you blaming Hyeongjun or Dohyon either. It’s not like they were in a hurry to sign you up for the Debating Society either.”

That’s because Hyeongjun is equipped with the deadliest set of puppy dog eyes that Minhee has ever seen in his seventeen years of life. He _can’t _blame him for anything. He physically can’t. He did try that morning when he picked Hyeongjun up for school, but his best friend turned so distraught that he just dropped the topic within moments. Unwilling to give in just yet, however, Minhee promptly swivels round to Dohyon instead, who has been quietly dozing on his desk, and taps his head.

“How could you not sign me up for Debating Society?” he demands. “I trusted you.”

Squinting up at him blearily, Dohyon asks, “Was I meant to?” and stifles a yawn. He misses Minhee’s flat look.

“Traitors,” he repeats, shaking his head. “The lot of you.”

“To be fair, we had to sign up during lunch time,” says Hyeongjun generously, ever the diplomat. “So Dohyonnie was only thinking about bulgogi at the time.”

“Oh yeah,” Dohyon recalls with what can only be described as a dopey grin. “That was some good bulgogi.”

Dongpyo throws him a disgusted look. “I don’t think that’s even actual beef they put in the bulgogi,” he says, revolted.

“Eh. It was good either way.”

“You’re fucking vile, you know that?”

He shrugs. “I’m fifteen.”

“And a traitor,” Minhee can’t help but remind him.

“And tired,” Dohyon corrects and drops his head back onto the fold of his arms. “Don’t disturb me for the next twenty minutes, thanks. I’m going to squeeze a quick nap in. Good day and goodnight everyone.”

“Yah, homeroom begins in three minutes,” chides Hyeongjun. He shakes Dohyon’s shoulders. “Stay awake before you land yourself in detention.”

“I don’t want to,” he complains, even as he sits up. “Seungyoun-hyung told me to rebel against the man whenever I can.”

“Mrs Jung is a woman,” Minhee says.

“The man is not a _gendered being_. It’s an emblem. A figurehead that represents the oppressiveness of authority and dictatorship. The stifling of creativity, the inequality of hierarchy. The man is a symbol of the death of individuality. It’s embodied in behaviour, not in minor things like gender presentation. So yes, Mrs Jung _is_ the man and it’s my duty to rebel against her rule.”

Dohyon meets each of their mystified looks with a decisive nod, as if approving of his own passionate speech. The three of them exchange a glance before Dongpyo shakes his head with a little laugh.

“Okay seriously, you need to stop hanging out with your brother’s boyfriend.”

Wednesday arrives and with it comes the first meeting of Minhee’s dreaded fraternity: the Knit & Natter. He lingers outside of classroom 3b after school, hearing the quiet chatter of the other club members on the other side of the door and psyching himself up to go in. It’s just a club, after all. Not something that can seriously ruin his day. Sure, he’d much rather be elsewhere, but it’s not going to hurt him to walk in and sit there for an hour. And he really shouldn’t be judging the people who joined it willingly either.

Who knows? Maybe knitting is fun.

_Wow._

Telling his ego to get over itself, Minhee pushes open the door to the classroom and hesitantly enters the room. He pulls on an automatic smile in the face of ten curious glances and inclines his head in a mini-bow. A gesture of respect to make up for the unflattering thoughts he’s voiced in his head.

“Hi,” he says uncertainly. “I’m Minhee. This is the knitting club, right?”

“Yes, yes, come in!” says a warm, pretty voice. Lee Eunsang gets up to usher him to the seat right next to him. “Nice to see we have another member who’s actually turned up. I’m Eunsang, the leader and organiser of the club.”

Well. That makes Minhee feel like a piece of shit. Here he is, privately judging the other members for signing up when these guys are the only ones nice enough to actually honour their commitment and turn up. So what if they like knitting? It’s far from the worst thing they could do. He resolves to be kinder in his attitude to the club and its members.

Minhee smiles again and this time it’s much more genuine. “I know. You’re the class president of our year. We’re in the same homeroom and have some classes together.”

Eunsang’s mouth quirks up and two lines frame it, embedded into his cheeks. “Oh, I know. But I thought it’d be a bit presumptuous to assume you know who I am, so I figured I’d introduce myself properly. Especially because I don’t believe we’ve talked before?”

He’s right, they haven’t. Where Eunsang situates himself in the front and centre of every classroom, Minhee always finds himself dragged to the back by either Dohyon (always eager to sneak a nap in) or Dongpyo (always ready to wreak havoc). But he did put Eunsang down as his second option for class president, the first being Hyeongjun of course.

(Dongpyo sulked for days when he found out, pouting and whining about being surrounded by fake friends. Minhee couldn’t help but point out how Dongpyo manages to consistently land himself in detention for winking at their History teacher, Mr Kang, whenever he is being reprimanded for disrupting the classroom. The world would not be able to handle Son Dongpyo as the junior class president.)

“I’m kind of shy,” Minhee says, a little bashful. “I don’t talk to many people.”

Eunsang nods understandingly. “I’m the same, to be honest. Junho too,” he says, patting the knee of the boy on the other side of him. “He didn’t talk to me for a solid week when we met in freshman year.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” protests Junho.

“We were the only people at our table in the cafeteria. It _was_ that bad.”

His friend pouts. “I gave you my Honey Butter Chips.”

“They tasted very nice,” he promises. Eunsang turns back to Minhee and hands him a pair of plastic knitting needles and a ball of blue yarn. “Today we’re just going to learn the basics since it’s our very first meeting. Just learning how to cast on – that is, getting the first stitches onto the needles. Don’t worry if you struggle with it, it can be quite tricky.”

Minhee looks down at the yarn on his lap uncertainly. “Um. Okay,” he says, visibly hesitant. “Can you show me how to do it?”

Eunsang beams. “That’s what I’m here for.”

DONGPYO FT. THE HOES  
  
so done-pyo  
how was the knitting club, loser?  
it was  
  
actually okay  
  
lemon poodle  
i told u it’d be good!  
see? all this worrying for no reason  
wtv  
  
it wasn’t revolutionary or anything  
  
but it was nice  
  
so done-pyo  
better than debating climate change?  
it’s the climate crisis, you uncultured ingrate, and no, nothing could ever beat that  
  
u are such a nerd

Knitting is surprisingly hard.

Grandmas and Eunsang always make it look so easy, their needles clacking together loudly – _obnoxiously, _scowls a voice in Minhee’s head whenever he fails to loop a stitch correctly – but those sweet people shouldn’t fool anyone. Though the devil may work hard, knitting is ten hundred times harder, but so help him God, Minhee refuses to let that deter him. He _will_ succeed and finish off the hat he’s making. Failure is absolutely out of the question. It’s for his favourite dog down at the shelter (he’d have adopted it long ago if not for his mum’s allergies) and he refuses to let G-Dachshund go cold this autumn.

Thankfully, Eunsang is more than happy to help.

He’s kind and generous with his support – not just with Minhee but with the entire club. His presence maintains an easy, relaxed atmosphere and it’s not uncommon for someone to call him over, whining about how they can’t do this anymore, only to have Eunsang cheer them up moments later.

Minhee is far from immune to this and he gets close to the other in a way he doesn’t often do with many people in such little time. But he can hardly help it. He can’t change the way Eunsang’s hands are warm when they carefully fix whatever mistake Minhee has just made, or when they come down to rest on his arm in comfort at the first sign of his distress. Nor can he change the honeyed lilt of his voice, sweet like the cherries that mimic his hair. He almost sounds as if he’s humming a constant melody.

Minhee comes to associate his voice with the odd contentment that comes with the Knit & Natter. For all he judged it beforehand, the club has a strange way of relaxing the tense set of his shoulders after a hard day at school. In fact, he’s rather ashamed that he judged it so harshly now that he’s had time to settle in. The club is quite frankly a _nice _place to be. A place where the mismatched collection of students – Canadian transfer Tony from his Maths class, model student Kim Minkyu, shy Hidaka Mahiro – can comfortably share their passing thoughts and persistent worries with each other over yarn and biscuits. It’s a place to relax, an advice group and a gossip well all rolled into one.

All facilitated by Lee Eunsang.

Though he never thought he’d say it, Minhee comes to actually enjoy the knitting club. Sure, it’s not the Debating Society, but he can argue about institutional racism any other time.

“You’re getting really good at this,” Eunsang says, studying what is well on its way to being G-Dachshund’s hat. “You’re loads better than I was at your stage.”

Doubtful, Minhee sends him a disbelieving look. “Yeah, right. You’re amazing.” When Eunsang blushes, he realises how oddly reverent that came out and hastily adds, “At knitting, I mean. I mean, you _are_ amazing in general, of course, but I was – I was talking specifically about the knitting. Since… Since we are in a knitting club. Together. Right now.”

Eunsang snorts gently with laughter. “Thank you. But no, seriously, I used to be really bad at knitting when I first started. Awful, really, it was pretty tragic. It took me ages to master it and that’s only because my halmeoni forced me to do it with her whenever she was babysitting me.”

Minhee can’t help but smile at the mental image of a little Eunsang knitting in his living room, eyebrows furrowed together, and lips turned downwards as he struggled to make a scarf. He must’ve looked adorable.

“You seem to have a natural talent for it,” continues Eunsang. “Lots of manual dexterity.”

“Oh that’s good then,” says Minhee. “I need to have manual dexterity if I’m going to be a dentist one day.”

“Oh, you want to be a dentist? That’s interesting. What made you choose that?”

He shrugs. If he’s being honest, he just woke up one day and decided that dentistry is a good compromise between working in the healthcare sector like his parents want and not working daft hours every week.

“I like my teeth,” is what he says instead. “I think they’re very nice.”

Eunsang looks at him carefully as if to ascertain this for himself; so Minhee smiles, wide and toothy, his cheeks bunched up. His eyes crinkle up in that way he knows endears him to people and he waits patiently for the verdict. The other boy nods in consideration.

“You do have nice teeth,” he agrees and then adds, “And a nice smile.”

For some reason, the words warm his cheeks. Minhee feels a rush of satisfaction bubble up from deep inside of him in a way that confuses him. Not wanting to dwell on it, he shrugs it off with a jokey, “Of course, I do. What else did you expect from me?”

Inside, something begins to unravel under his skin.

The revelation hits him two days later in the middle of lunch. Ever since Wednesday, Minhee has felt off-kilter as if something in his life, in his _body_ is changing. Shifting positions. Something he can’t quite put a name on. Which, for someone who likes to be as certain and as prepared for things as possible, is quite frankly nothing short of disconcerting. He doesn’t like it.

“So you haven’t done your homework then?” Hyeongjun says disapprovingly. He folds his arms across his chest and stares Dohyon down in disappointment. “Again?”

Dohyon avoids his eyes. “I forgot.”

“No, you didn’t. I only got off FaceTime with you last night _because_ you said you were going to finish off the assignment. It was only five pages of reading and a short summary, Dohyonnie. It’s not that hard.”

“I was going to do it,” he says defensively. “But then I thought of this really cool hook for that competition I’m thinking of entering – “

“The one with Heize?” Dongpyo asks.

“Yes, that one. I have most of the melody done now and it’s really good, I think! Wanna see?” he offers eagerly, even putting down his pizza to reach for his school bag.

A small smile dances on his lips, eyes bright and expectant until Hyeongjun speaks moments later, voice still weighted with his reprimand.

“No, I want you to have done your homework. Dohyon, you know this means you’re going to get another detention again since this is the third time you haven’t done your assignment for Korean Lit. Mrs Song is going to drag you out in front of the entire class just to lecture you. I don’t understand why you never concentrate in school when you _know_ you could easily avoid all of this.”

Dohyon visibly deflates. Lips pursed sullenly, he returns to his pizza and mumbles with heavy petulance, “Whatever. I don’t even care about getting a stupid detention.”

“Well, _I_ do,” Hyeongjun fires back.

Caught in the middle of the crossfire, Dongpyo sends Minhee an awkward look, eyes wide and pleading, clearly wanting him to step in and reel in his best friend before Dohyon gets really upset. Though the brat never treats them like hyungs – especially since he skipped a couple of grades to be in their year after consistently ranking first in the school district – Dohyon is still two years younger than them, and soft at heart. Hurting him is like kicking a puppy when it’s down.

Minhee pushes aside the internal mess that has been distracting him for the past couple of days and opens his mouth to save the situation before it gets worse. Before he can get a word out, however, Hyeongjun is already sighing in defeat.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I _would_ like to listen to your melody. I was just being harsh before because I’m worried about you, that’s all.”

Dohyon refuses to look his way. “Whatever. It’s not like I even care.”

Uh-oh. Looks like Hyeongjun has hit hard with this one. Dohyon is rarely sulky in the face of an apology unless it involves his food or him being seriously offended over something.

Knowing this, Hyeongjun wraps an arm around his shoulder and shuffles closer to him, tilting his head so it’s in Dohyon’s peripheral view. He presses his lips together in a closed smile and enlarges his eyes, blinking coyly at him. He rubs his thumb on a crease on Dohyon’s shirt.

“I’m sorry, Dohyonnie,” he says sweetly. He’s probably the only boy Minhee knows who can get away with laying on the aegyo so thick while still sounding both sincere and endearing. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I genuinely do want to listen to your song. It must be special if our Dohyonnie made it, right? Hm?" He nudges him playfully. “Okay?”

Dohyon holds out on giving in for all of five seconds before he melts and turns to Hyeongjun with a cheeky grin. He smashes his palms on either side of Hyeongjun’s face and coos.

“Ahh Hyeongjunnie, you’re so cute. Of course I forgive you, how can I not?”

Immediately, Hyeongjun drops the aegyo and bats him away with a scowl. Dohyon follows after him with another coo, making grabby hands for his cheeks which he avoids by leaning away, practically horizontal in his seat.

“Yah! Where did you learn to call your hyungs cute? I’m two years older than you, what’s up with that?”

But there’s a pleased colour to the purse of his mouth all the same. When he thinks no one is paying attention, it blooms into a small, secretive smile. For some reason, Minhee gets the funny feeling that he’s been on the other end of it before – not observing it or receiving it, but indulging in the same private contentment and oh, God.

_No._

Oh dear lord.

A sense of foreboding wells up in him. Minhee whips his head round in search of where he _knows_ he will find a head of bright red hair. As if feeling his gaze all the way over by the water fountain, Eunsang looks up and meets Minhee’s intent gaze. He starts and then smiles, the two familiar brackets of his beam deep in his cheeks.

And there it is.

The smile that leaps to Minhee’s mouth, fond and unbidden. He feels that same wave of warmth from Wednesday wash through him and he realises.

“Oh fuck,” Minhee says out loud.

“What?” Hyeongjun blinks, his orange juice halfway to his mouth. “What’s wrong?”

Minhee shakes his head. “Nothing,” he says faintly. “Nothing.”

He just happens to have the fattest crush in the world on Lee Eunsang.

SO DONE-PYO  
  
so when are u going to tell me all abt ur crush on our class president  
  
i have no idea what you’re talking about  
  
u like lee eunsang  
  
u want to snog his mouth  
  
u want to hold his hand  
  
i don’t even know what a hand is  
  
u can’t hide this from me  
  
i am all-knowing. all-seeing. all-powerful. i am,,,  
  
korea's next top model  
  
you're like 5cm tall???  
  
okay mr ‘i stare at lee eunsang all history lesson’  
  
he sits right in front of the whiteboard??  
  
okay mr ‘i write “mr lee minhee & mr kang eunsang” in the secret code i created when i was 12 to cheat in geography in my notebooks’  
  
how tf do you know my secret code  
  
...that i don't have  
  
and that was only used for one test if i did  
  
i told u, i’m all-knowing  
  
that’s just weird, i never even mentioned it to you  
  
anyways so u admit u like lee eunsang, right?  
  
i’m sorry. the number you have texted is unavailable. please try again later.  
  


Lee Eunsang is officially the most gorgeous boy to ever exist ever. Yes, that’s “ever” said twice in one sentence because Minhee needs everyone to know that he means it when he says that Eunsang is the most beautiful person to walk this green earth in the history of its existence. Birds sing when he speaks with that gentle, silvery voice of his. Flowers spring to life at his every footstep, a trail of petals following him wherever he goes. The sun shines a permanent halo over his head.

Minhee tries not to spontaneously combust whenever he sees him, but it’s hard work. Harder than knitting, even. On the outside, he likes to think he’s as cool as a cucumber, smiling good-naturedly at Eunsang’s little jokes, teasing him until he receives a pretty blush for his efforts. Speaking to him in classes they share and between the ones they don’t.

On the inside? He’s permanently screaming.

Every time Eunsang tugs him back and forth when he collapses with laughter, every time he sings a quiet melody under his breath while he works on the pair of gloves he’s knitting, every time he blinks in such innocent confusion whenever he loses a game during the Knit & Natter – all of it makes him want to just grab him and shake him. Shake him while yelling like a madman about how it should be illegal to be as cute as this.

But alas, Minhee is also terribly allergic to admitting how he truly feels about someone.

Hyeongjun likes to say it’s the chronic Slytherin in him.

Whatever it is, it means that he’s constantly torn between shying away from anything remotely romantic and taking the plunge to ask Eunsang out. On the one hand, staying away means he can preserve what is a pretty good friendship. On the other hand, Minhee is physically incapable of not shooting his shot at things he desires.

Which means he has a conundrum.

Usually, he’d turn to Hyeongjun for advice since they’re best friends, but the two of them don’t really discuss their crushes with each other. Partly because, as previously mentioned, Minhee regards admitting his feelings for someone on the same level as calling his teacher ‘Mum’ (aka the most humiliating thing one can experience). And partly because he’s always suspected Hyeongjun to have feelings he doesn’t want to address for a certain fifteen-year-old they know. Emphasis on ‘doesn’t want to address’.

So that takes Hyeongjun out.

Dongpyo is already out of the question, purely because he’s texted Minhee about his crush already and Minhee flat-out refuses to give him the satisfaction of confirming that he’s correct. Also because Dongpyo more or less flirts with any living thing that so much as breathes in his presence, his advice would probably be along the lines of winking at and enticing Eunsang into a date. Minhee doesn’t think he even knows how to wink.

Which means that, by sheer circumstance of elimination, he ends up asking Dohyon for help when he goes to his house to study on Sunday evening.

His friend looks blankly at him, clearly caught off-guard by the way Minhee has just sprung the secret on him in the middle of a simultaneous equation. “Um,” he says. “I’ve never asked someone out before.”

“Neither have I,” says Minhee.

Dohyon nods slowly. “That’s… kind of sad, actually. You’re two whole years older than me.”

His mouth falls open in indignation. “I’m only seventeen!” he splutters. “Plenty of people haven’t dated by my age! And I don’t see you hurrying to ask anyone out either so you can dial back the judgement, brat.”

“Why would I want to date someone when I can just hang out with you guys instead? That’s so much more fun than worrying about a girlfriend or boyfriend.”

“So then why am _I_ expected to have dated someone?”

“Because you’re handsome,” Dohyon says, waving a hand towards his face as if it explains itself. “You have freckles and you lowkey look like you’ve just walked offstage after performing at MAMA with that blonde hair. I mean, I know you’re a nerd and you want to examine people’s teeth for a living and, like, tell them to floss or whatever, but you’re still date-worthy. I’m sure Eunsang will say yes when you ask him out. He likes tall guys who are nice. You’re his type.”

Minhee narrows his eyes in suspicion. “How do you know what Eunsang’s type is?”

“We’re in the same English class,” he says like it’s obvious. “He’s actually pretty good at speaking it, you know, so we pair up a lot of the time. He’s nice.”

Of course, he is. Eunsang is good at everything and nice with everyone. It’s both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because he deserves to excel at whatever he puts his mind to and a curse because it just means Minhee’s crush grows more and more helpless with every new bit of information he finds out about the other boy. He’s honestly pathetic by this point.

“Yeah, but I don’t know how to ask him out,” Minhee says, fiddling with his pen nervously. He lifts it to his mouth to chew on the nib. “It’s not like I can just say it.”

“Uh. Yeah, you can? That’s the easiest way to do it? Why _wouldn’t_ you be able to just say it?”

“Because! That’s embarrassing.”

Dohyon sighs and fixes him with a stern look. It doesn’t quite match the fluffiness of his cheeks or the remnants of sugar on his chin from the donut he scoffed down earlier, but he commits to it all the same so Minhee tries to treat it with due respect.

“Look hyung,” he says, “I get that you’re, like, a tsundere or whatever, but in my humble experience – “

“You just told me you have none.”

“Um, I’ve read plenty of books and watched several romcoms, I’ll have you know. That’s basically the same thing. And all of them suggest that there’s a lot less drama in just admitting your feelings for someone as they are instead of worrying about what the other person might say. It cuts out the angst right away. So yeah, I think just confessing your feelings would be the best thing to do.”

“I agree!” shouts Dohyon’s brother from the living room. He pops his head around the doorframe to grin encouragingly at them. “Just take the jump, man. I believe in you.”

“Hyung, stop listening in on my conversations!” Dohyon says vehemently. “We’ve talked about this! It’s weird.”

“Your friends like me more than you,” Hangyul shoots back.

“They just pretend to like you because you look like you’ll eat them otherwise. Now go videocall Seungyounnie hyung or something and stop eavesdropping on me.”

“Ouch, so mean.” Hangyul places a hand over his chest and winces, shaking his head mournfully. He raises his hands up in an exaggerated sign for surrender and slowly backs away, a small smile curling his mouth. Just before he disappears from view, he looks right at Minhee. “Dohyonnie’s right, by the way. I know in high school it seems like it’ll be the end of the world if you confess to someone and things don’t go right, but it’s honestly never going to be as awful as you think it will. Especially because this Eunsang of yours sounds like a good kid. Just ask him out, kid. Or else you’ll always be asking yourself ‘what if’?”

That night when he’s lying in bed, Minhee ruminates over Dohyon and his brother’s advice, staring blankly into the murky darkness of his bedroom. _Just ask him out._ Just do it, like ripping off a plaster. Stride up to him, look into those damn shining eyes of his and tell Eunsang that he likes him and would like to share an ice cream with him. Just… ask him.

Except.

_Except._

It really isn’t as simple as that. Minhee can just picture what would really happen as clear as day: he’d approach Eunsang after the next Knit & Natter meeting and try to ask him out, tripping over his words until the other would ask him to repeat himself. He’d do so and then that small inviting smile of Eunsang’s would fade into something more awkward, dipping into pity as he explains that he just doesn’t see Minhee that way. As junior class president, he can’t just date any lowlife that fancies him.

And then Minhee would have to pretend like it didn’t hurt him to smile and reassure Eunsang that it’s okay, he understands why Eunsang said no. And then he’d come home and watch Planet Earth while despondently spooning three bowls of cookie dough into his mouth until his stomach threatened to send it all right back up.

No, Minhee can’t just _walk_ up to him and confess. If he’s going to confess, he needs less words than that. Something small but meaningful. A gesture that will silently convey his intentions in a way that will also convince Eunsang to give this nerd a chance.

But just what could that be?

Minhee turns on his side and chews his bottom lip as he idly entertains various ideas. The closer he gets to sleep, the more wild the ideas become, things he would never even dream of doing in reality. Pulling off one of those dramatic promposals Americans like to do, a marching band behind him as he bursts into classroom 3b to ask Eunsang out. Walking up to him and snogging him senseless there and then. Asking Dohyon to help him create a mixtape carefully curated for Eunsang’s tastes.

An idea strikes him just as he’s about to properly turn in for the night. Gasping, Minhee shoots up in bed and scrambles for the switch on his lamp. As the room floods with light, he breaks out into a grin.

“I’m a genius,” he announces, and then reaches for the knitting needles on his bedside table.

By the time Wednesday rolls around, Minhee’s grand gesture is complete and safely tucked into a pocket in his school bag. He’s worked on it for the past three nights, taking care to make every stitch as perfect as his limited skills will accomplish, a YouTube tutorial on repeat as he painstakingly hoops a thread of yarn around his needles. Given his lack of expertise, it was slow work, but his work ethic was as unrelenting as ever.

He’s nervous throughout the entire meeting, his leg bouncing underneath the table so much that Eunsang clamps a hand down on it and squeezes.

“You okay?” he asks, studying him in concern. “You seem distracted.”

Minhee can hardly look at his face without turning red. “Yes,” he manages to choke out, meeting his gaze for just a second before his eyes skitter away. “I’m great. Just… thinking about something I have to do in a bit.”

“Oh okay,” says Eunsang understandingly. He returns to the scarf he’s knitting and asks casually, “Do you want to share what’s on your mind or…?”

Oh God. He can’t ask him out in front of the entire club. All six people that turned up today, Minhee and Eunsang not included. The thought is so terrifying he gets nausea from just entertaining it. Nope, no can do. Not happening tonight.

“Maybe later,” he says.

Eunsang nods, unfazed. “Sure thing. In your own time.”

Though the meeting seems to last forever while it’s going on, the end of it arrives much too soon. Before he’s even aware of what’s happening, the other members have slipped out with a cheery farewell and promises to see each other next week, leaving just Minhee and Eunsang in the room.

Eunsang stands and starts to quietly pack up the evidence of their meeting, humming under his breath as he flutters around the room. Not wanting to break the serenity of the moment, Minhee silently helps him tidy up, tucking in the chairs and collecting the stray strands of yarn to thrown in the rubbish bin. When he’s done, he pulls his coat and bag on, lingering next to where Eunsang sorts out his knitting supplies.

“You don’t need to stay if you don’t want,” he says, looking up at Minhee. “I’m sure you want to get home and have your tea.”

“No, I’m fine,” says Minhee. His hand slips towards the flap of his bag, in search of the gift he has tucked away. “I like walking out with you.”

The sentiment causes Eunsang to smile broadly, a bashful note in the little laugh that escapes him. He closes his box of knitting supplies and places it on the table, reaching for his coat. Minhee watches him, throat dry as he psyches himself up. Time to take the plunge. It’s now or never.

“Hey, Eunsang?” he says. His voice comes out stronger than he expects, not wavering even slightly to indicate his nerves. When the other boy hums in reply, he says, “I’d just like to thank you for running this club. You might not know this, but I didn’t exactly… think it was very cool when I first joined, but I’m really glad I did.”

Eunsang looks up at him. “Me too,” he says warmly before he smirks. “But I did know actually. I heard you complaining about it to your friends in homeroom after sign-ups. I never expected you to actually turn up so it really surprised me when you did.”

Well, shit.

That’s not very good news, is it? Minhee curses himself for his occasional penchant for dramatics. How could he have not realised that Eunsang was _there_ when he was ranting about how he’d much rather be in the Debating Society instead of meeting up with a league of knitters every Wednesday? Granted, he didn’t even know who the club leader was until the first meeting and Eunsang clearly doesn’t hold it against him, but he can’t help but want to kick himself for his idiocy and inconsideration.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry – “

“It’s fine,” Eunsang dismisses with a little laugh. “A lot of people think knitting’s weird or for old people. You’re not the first.”

“But still. I feel bad.”

“Well, I’m telling you not to. As club leader and as your friend, I order you to not feel guilty. I just brought it up to tease you – especially because you seem to be so passionate about knitting hats for the dog shelter now. You’re a changed man.”

Minhee’s cheeks warm and he looks down at his feet. “I don’t want G-Dachshund to be cold in winter,” he mutters.

“Well, thanks to you, he won’t be. Isn’t that great?”

He nods. “Yeah. Yeah, it is. Which is why I wanted to thank you, really. Even though I didn’t have the… kindest view of this hobby before this year, it turns out that I actually do like knitting, even if I’m not great at it. And joining this club means that I’ve met more people and made new friends. Like you.”

Calling upon all of his courage, he tears his gaze away from his feet and looks Eunsang directly in the eye. The other boy is already looking right at him, an inexplicable fondness in the set of his features that whispers to a hopeful part of Minhee that _maybe just maybe_ things aren’t as hopeless as he fears. The sight encourages him to extend his hand out, offering his fist to Eunsang. When the boy glances down at it, he twists his wrist and then unfurls his fingers to reveal his gift.

“This is for you,” he murmurs. “I hope you like it.”

Eunsang plucks the red yarn heart from Minhee’s palm and gazes at it wondrously. A soft smile unfolds on his face and his teeth bite down to contain it. When he looks at Minhee, his eyes drip honey.

“It’s so pretty,” he says. “I love it.”

“It’s a little crooked,” Minhee says, ears red, but Eunsang just shakes his head.

“I love it,” he repeats. “Thank you.”

“N-No problem.”

Heart still hammering in a quick tempo under the cage of his ribs, Minhee watches as Eunsang moves to tuck the heart in his pocket before he comes to a stop. Thinking better of it, he decides to curl his hand around it and keep it safe in his grip instead. Seeing it there in his hands, liking it, _cherishing _it causes that warmth he’s all too familiar with by now to rise like a tidal wave inside him.

Before he knows it, he blurts, “Also I was wondering if you like eating ice cream.”

Eunsang pauses, eyes wide. “Depends,” he says after a moment. “Would you judge me for liking mint chocolate?”

“I disagree with it on a moral basis but respect your opinion.”

He laughs, reaching over with his free hand to smack his arm and then jerks Minhee closer to him. “Then yes, I do.” His hand slips down to slot his fingers between Minhee’s. “I also like holding hands by the way.”

A broad smile takes over Minhee’s face. He marvels at their intertwined hands and squeezes them together. “Me too.”

DONGPYO FT. THE HOES  
  
nom nom hyon  
minhee hyunggggg  
is it true you asked eunsang out???  
hangyulie hyung says he just saw you on a date with someone with red hair!!!  
so done-pyo  
wait what  
nom nom hyon  
!!! i know!!! i’m so proud!!! he took my advice!!  
so done-pyo  
he went to YOU for advice?? wow top ten anime betrayals  
… ofc your brother saw us and told  
  
why am i even surprised  
  
nom nom hyon  
congratulations hyung, you’re not a single nerd anymore. you’re a taken nerd  
lmao thanx  
  
so done-pyo  
i can’t believe u told dohyon u like eunsang and didn’t tell me when i was the one who guessed it first  
lol that's exactly why i didn't tell you  
  
so done-pyo  
i am,,, hurt  
but also: i called this ages ago so in ur fucking face kang minhee, i told u i know all  
ok boomer  
  
so done-pyo  
i’m literally 8 days older than u  
lemon poodle  
omg!!! minhee!!! i’m so happy for you, congratulations!! i had a feeling this would happen too  
am i that predictable  
  
so done-pyo  
lol ye  
lemon poodle  
kind of  
nom nom hyon  
see hyung, i told you all you had to do was just confess. people act like it’s a bigger deal than it really is to confess your feelings, but things always work out better than you think they will! it’s better to let out your feelings than keep them all bottled up  
lemon poodle  
...you really think that?  
nom nom hyon  
well yeah. i mean even if the other person doesn’t like you back, if they’re a good person then they’ll be understanding and let you down nicely  
lemon poodle  
oh  
...interesting

**king.minhee**, **nomnomhyon** and **101 others** liked this

**eunsangie.e **did he slip stitch or just straight up slide into my DMs lmaoOO

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**king.minhee **knit & natter? more like stitch & hitch amirite

**eunsangie.e **@king.minhee that’s not the only thing i can do with a needle ;))

**sondongpyo **u absolute HEATHENS, u need god

**Author's Note:**

> (pretend eunsang's hair is red in that picture)
> 
> notes:  
\- [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38wPBR16xxI&t=144s) is what minhee made for eunsang  
\- dohyon's [melody](https://grafolio.naver.com/works/546316) for a competition with heize does actually exist (he's so cute!)  
\- dohyon calling hyeongjun cute and [hj reprimanding him](https://youtu.be/fNwD2BWhHBo?t=280) for it also exists
> 
> also here is my [twt](https://twitter.com/thotforcsy) for anyone who wants to follow me. and here is my [cc](https://curiouscat.me/jjasmine) too :)
> 
> 18/11/20: minor edits made


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